Virginia Postrel, Columnist

I Played Pokemon Go. Here's What It Is and Isn't.

It's not about augmented reality. It isn't exercise. It is neighborly. And fun.

July 15, 2016 at 10:29 AM EDT

Virginia Postrel is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. She is a visiting fellow at the Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy at Chapman University and author, most recently, of “The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World.”

Sociable.
Photographer: JOSEP LAGO/AFP/Getty Images

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At 56, I’m way too old to be playing Pokemon Go. After all, the smartphone game’s phenomenal success is built on millennial nostalgia, and I don’t even have any kids to blame. But what started out as research has turned into a mild addiction. It’s fun to wander the streets finding magic critters and the tools to capture them. Along the way I met some nice people and learned some things I didn’t expect (and got yet another confirmation of an unfortunate truth about new technology).

1) Contrary to the common journalistic shorthand, the game isn’t about augmented reality. When I signed up, I thought playing Pokemon Go would be a good way to see what happens when augmented reality, which superimposes computer images on your view of real-world surroundings, meets a mass market.

Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal

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